The surname Rafert is an Americanization of the German surname Röver.  Other variation of this surname include Röwer, Roewer, Röber , Rohwer, Raver, and Raefort.  Research suggests that almost everyone with the surname Rafert is descended from one of two men who migrated from Germany to Indianapolis in the 1840s and 50s.  They were the sons of Heinrich Friedrich Wilhelm Röver & Anna Sophie Eleanore Mönkhoff.  Heinrich Röver (1800-1891) settled in Indianapolis in 1843 and his older brother Wilhelm Röver (1797-1886) brought his wife and children to Indianapolis in 1852.